The Night Before
by appleslovetea
Summary: COMPLETE - It's the night before the 2016 Olympic Games' swimming finals and Rin feels nervous as hell, and there is only one person in the world who can calm him down...


Rin Matsuoka was trying his best to relax, but somehow luck wasn't on his side that night.

He'd already tried to unwind by taking a long bath on the hotel bathroom's massive Jacuzzi tub, had tried chilling out on the balcony lounge chairs, overseeing a spectacular view of Rio and of the Olympic stadium in the distance, but nothing seemed to be able to cure the anxiety that had taken over him.

Rin had even tried watching TV for a while, to see if he could distract his mind, but given that the majority of the channels were replaying the day's Olympic events, he ended up feeling even more disconcerted.

At 11 p.m. he finally decided to turn off the TV and let himself fall nonchalantly on top of the king sized bed that occupied nearly half of the hotel bedroom he had been staying in for over 2 weeks now.

The redhead stared at the fan, permanently rotating in the ceiling above him in a futile attempt to fight off the scorching Brazilian heat and for a few moments felt like he was slowly melting along with the rest of the city.

"Where is that guy?" Rin asked out loud, checking his wristwatch for the third time in the last ten minutes.

_He_ had promised to come to the shark's room that night and as much as Rin was ashamed to admit it, he was by now convinced that the other guy was the only thing standing between him and a stupid nervous breakdown at the moment.

As if on cue, the redhead heard a shallow knock on the hotel room's door and so practically flew to it, opening the door as soon as he reached it…only to panic as he took in the sight before him.

Haruka Nanase stood on the entryway to Rin's room, holding a huge fluffy pillow under one of his arms and a change of clothes under the other.

Before the dark-haired man even had the chance to open his mouth and say 'Hello' though, the shark quickly pulled him inside his hotel room, but not before checking to see if anyone else was crossing the hotel's corridor at the time.

"Are you crazy, Haru?" Rin asked as soon as he closed the door behind the two of them. "The hotel is crammed with reporters. What are you doing walking around in your pajamas with a pillow under your arm? Want to make it to the morning newspapers?"

Haru chose to ignore his aggravated tone. "I told you I don't like the hotel's pillows. If I can't sleep with my own pillow, I won't be able to sleep at all. I had to bring it with me." He said calmly, climbing on top of Rin's bed without even asking for permission. "Besides, I couldn't care less what reporters think." He added, pulling his pajama t-shirt above his head and throwing it on the floor, before lying his head down comfortably on his pillow.

When Haru sensed the other man wasn't moving though, he lifted his head slightly, staring at the redhead with a frown. "Aren't you coming to bed? We both need a good night's sleep."

Instead of answering, Rin just sighed. Leave it to Haruka Nanase to act all cool and collected at a time like that.

The following day would probably be the most important one so far in their careers as professional swimmers, but the dolphin was still acting as if it would be just another normal day…And Rin loved him for that.

Feeling surprisingly calmer all of a sudden, the redhead walked towards the vacant side of the bed, soon climbing next to Haru and snuggling closer to him so that he ended up spooning the latter.

"You smell nice." Rin couldn't help but say, as he brushed his nose against the back of Haru's neck.

"Hey, don't even think about it." The dark-haired man warned, jamming his elbow strategically against Rin's ribs, who just laughed in return. "We need to rest for tomorrow."

"Relax. I'm not going to try anything." Rin said, although he secretly hoped Haru would be more receptive to the idea. It would at least help the shark blow off some unwanted steam.

"Hey!" Haru suddenly exclaimed, as if he had just remembered something crucial. "Didn't you say Sousuke would be stopping by your room tonight to wish you good luck for tomorrow?" He asked, a light nervous tone perceivable in his voice.

"I had dinner with him today,… but I doubt he will be stopping by my room tonight." Rin shared, grinning.

"Why is that?"

"Because I told him I'd spend the night having steamy sex with you."

"You told him _what_? !" Haru asked, sitting up in bed instantly, only to cause the shark to burst out laughing.

"It's a joke, Haru! I didn't tell him that." Rin confessed, holding his stomach with his hands to keep himself from laughing anymore.

"That wasn't funny." The dolphin said unamused, nevertheless lying back down again so that his back was once more resting against Rin's chest.

"…But I did tell Sousuke that I would be spending the night with you."

Haru didn't say anything in return this time, but even though he couldn't see the other man's face at the moment, the redhead knew that the dark-haired swimmer was blushing at the time.

It was clear that Haru was still coming to terms with the fact that he and Rin had recently come clean with their friends and finally confessed that the both of them had been secretly dating each other for over 2 years now… even though the news didn't turn out to be a surprise to anyone…

"It must be nice to have your friend here to cheer for you." Haru said then, referring to Sousuke's trip to Brazil purposely to support Rin in the Olympic Games.

Rin squeezed Haru tighter against him. "…Are you upset Makoto isn't here as well?"

Haru sighed in reply. "He's on his honeymoon... It's not like I could ever ask him to cut his honeymoon short and fly all the way here for just a few days."

The redhead had to bite his tongue then not to ruin the surprise he knew was in store for the other man. The truth was that Makoto, along with his new wife, and Rei and Nagisa had all arrived in Rio that afternoon and the 4 of them would be at the Olympic stadium cheering for Haru in the finals he'd be participating in on the following day.

"Don't worry. I'll be there to cheer for you." Rin said, gently brushing his lips over the other man's shoulder.

There was a hint of amusement in Haru's voice as he replied. "That will be funny to watch, seeing as you will be competing against me in one of the finals."

"Hey, that doesn't mean I can't still cheer for you, you know?" Rin complained, noticing how Haru chuckled at his words.

"Yeah, yeah, try to go to sleep, will you swimmer-sama?" The dark-haired man said, turning off the bedside table lamp, so that the room was enveloped in darkness.

A few minutes of silence ensued, until Rin's quiet voice cut through the air "Hey… Haru?"

"Hmm?" Haru mumbled, moments away from sleep.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

The dolphin replied so quickly and confidently that Rin felt stupid having asked the question. "No." Haru said. "…Are you?"

"…No."

Rin only really realized he'd started shivering when he felt the other man's hand squeeze his arm reassuringly.

"It's ok to feel nervous, Rin." Haru said, feeling the redhead's forehead being pressed against his back.

"It's just that I've worked so hard to get here… To think it will all be over in 24 hours. What if I…?

Haru was turning in bed the next second, his face finally coming in view of Rin's.

"Hey, you will be just fine, you baka." He said, forcing a shy smile out of the other man. "Besides… sharks are not scared of anything, right?"

"Not when they're swimming besides dolphins..." Rin completed, just before he snuck closer to Haru and sealed his comment with a kiss.

-/-/-/-

That night Rin dreamt of victories, gold medals and multiple glories for him and Haru.

…And the best part was that on the following day, his dream came true.


End file.
